The Mavericks started out as ordinary Reploids, replicated from the advanced Mega Man X. Unfortunately, the emotions which the Reploids possessed led some of them to rebel violently against their creators. Worse, a dangerous virus eventually surfaced that would cause Reploids to become Mavericks,[1] like the former Maverick HunterSigma, who became the leader of these robots, which also employed an army of lesser Mechaniloids.

Contents

History

Worlds Unite

Some time after a previous operation, at least one Maverick, Vile, was in charge of the defense of Sigma's fortress when the Maverick Hunters came looking to finish off their hated foe.[2][3] Later, after Roboticized MastersSonic Man and M'egga Man were returned to their normal forms of Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man, Sigma used the Genesis Portals to revive all his previously defeated Mavericks in preparation for the coming conflict. He also reached into the future of his timeline to bring further Mavericks into his service. Curiously, these duplicated Mavericks lacked the full personality of their counterparts, but Sigma did not concern himself with it once it became clear that their loyalty to him remained.[4][5][6] Following the defeat of his Mechaniloid army, Sigma unleashed an army of these Mavericks on the Sky Patrol and the heroes aboard.[7] Weary from their previous battles, the heroes were set upon by four Mavericks while the rest scattered to various worlds on Sigma's orders. The handful of Time-Clones had the heroes on the ropes until some unlikely allies from another Zone arrived. Chun-Li, Ryu, Ken Masters, and Guile swiftly dispatched them, and the heroes then set out to track the remaining Mavericks.[8]

Trivia

The Mavericks serve much the same purpose in Worlds Unite that Wily Robot Masters in the Robot Master Army served in "Worlds Collide". They are also introduced in similar fashion, as none of the Mega Man X games have been fully adapted in the Mega Man comic, and thus virtually none of them aside from Sigma and Vile have been introduced prior to Worlds Unite. Additionally, although the events of the Mega Man X timeline take place after X7, additional Mavericks create for Mega Man X8 appear in the crossover, as do ones from the side game Mega Man X: Command Mission.

As with the Robot Master Army, the Maverick Army's membership lacks a handful of characters who had served as bosses in the Mega Man X series. Most notably, three prominent members of the Repliforce organization-General, Colonel, and Iris-do not appear to have been cloned by Sigma. It is possible that Sigma chose not to clone them because they were never truly loyal to his cause, similar to how the original Light Robot Masters (bar those from Mega Man 9) never chose to serve Dr. Wily. However, Middy, who was also not affiliated with Sigma, was cloned, likely as a side-effect of cloning Techno.

However, Middy can be seen, even though he was not a Maverick at all. In addition, Mac, Velguader, and Maoh the Giant were excluded, perhaps because they did not have developed characters in their games. Most, if not all Mavericks from Command Mission were also left out for the same reasons as Colonel above, along with Sigma having died for good by the time of the game.

Several of the Mega Man X5 Mavericks have two names; one is translated from their Japanese name, while the other is a nickname given in homage to members of the band Guns 'n Roses. Ian Flynn has expressed his dislike of the nicknames, and in the comics they are identified by the Japanese names, and thus intended to use their English translation names, including several used in the R20 Rockman & Rockman X Official Complete Works. However, due to the lateness of the change, Duff McWhalen was identified as Tidal Makkoeen rather than Tidal Whale.[13]